


Peaches in Spring

by noshu (Neiph)



Category: Far Cry 5, Far Cry: New Dawn
Genre: 5 years after the collapse, Angst, Enemies to Friends to More, God???, Implied/Referenced Death in Childbirth, Jacob Seed - Freeform, Jacob Seed Survives, M/M, New Dawn AU, Post-Apocalypse, Slow Burn, Staci Pratt Survives, Trust Issues, attempting to survive, bonding over a child, carmina rye - Freeform, faith is dead but referenced, flashbacks?? i think??, i dont know how radiation works and it shows, jacob is still jacob but not as intense after the collapse, jacobs tries to help staci, john presumed dead, kim rye - Freeform, more tag later, new eden is flourishing, nick rye - Freeform, no twins yet (later), not 17, nuclear spring has only just started, original child character - Freeform, staci is the guardian of someone else's child, staci is wary, staci pratt - Freeform, the highwaymen are just starting in hope county, this is my first time writing in a very long time im sorry lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-30 20:35:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17835743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neiph/pseuds/noshu
Summary: After being saved from The Collapse by two caring strangers, Staci Pratt finds himself out of the bunker with a young child in tow. As he deals with his own inner demons and feelings of inadequacy, a familiar and not-so-welcomed face comes back into the picture, offering his (and his brothers) help.Staci must put aside his traumatic past and feelings towards Jacob if he, and most importantly, the child, want to survive the new dawn.Set 5 years after the collapse, New Eden is rebuilding and Prosperity is a fledgling settlement.





	1. It's a New Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in about 7 or 8 years, so if it's a little stunted in some parts or boring, I'm very sorry.  
> Needed to get the scene set up in this chapter, so the ball will be rolling a little faster in the second one! (And hopefully for a little longer too, sorry for the short chapter)

All good things must come to an end. Even the strongest eventually wither away and die, to be forgotten and reclaimed by the earth from which they sprang.  
The modern world had ended with a magnificent, ear shattering bang, and Staci Pratt had bore witness to the overdue cleansing. 

So many innocent people had died that day, even the well-prepped Hope County took a massive blow to its population count. Those who were unable to make it to their bunkers in time, those who had none at all, and those who were killed in the instant chaos on the roads. 

Staci should have definitely been included in that figure, but by either God’s grace or just sheer dumb luck (he was leaning towards the latter), he found himself hunkered underground with two kind-hearted strangers he had never met before.

A perfect couple who Staci would come to both love and hate.  
They had saved his life and kept him fed in a bunker only meant for two, helped him to survive his brain telling him to do anything but survive.  
But they had also placed an insufferably heavy burden on his shoulders, one not meant to be carried by the likes of himself. 

He forced his eyes to refocus, internally chiding himself for letting them fog over and take him deep within his memories.  
The sun had almost set, bathing the almost desolate plains that were Hope County in a warm honey glow.  
He could feel the streams of dying sunlight trickling down his legs, seeping into his boots. He was comfortable but guarded on the gas station roof, knees lazily pulled towards his chest, rifle loaded and ready to go at a moments notice besides him. 

He let his fingers drift across the chipping paint absentmindedly. Red.

The sun was well and truly behind the mountains when he gathered his things and made his way down, inside the small adjoined building.  
It was dark in there, but it almost always was, given the boarded up windows and sheets of fabric covering any holes.  
At first glance it looked completely empty, but if one was to look behind the counter they would find a pile of unsuspecting blankets, most of them dirty and frayed, but deliciously warm.  
The ex-Deputy stilled his eyes as he drew closer, keeping his footsteps light and soft on the worn linoleum. There it was, the slight movement within, a tiny hint of a peaceful breath. 

The child that the perfect couple had left him with was not itself the burden, but instead the burden came with the protection of this helpless life.  
Staci didn’t resent the thing at all, it couldn’t help its own conception or birth. No, Staci resented the fact that with him, the child would always live in a state of fear and unknown, they would have hunger as their constant companion and never know a life filled with the love and care they deserved.  
He did his best, he really did, but as he settled down onto the cold floor besides them, he was once again overcome by his nightly feelings of inadequacy and guilt. 

Her parents were initially shocked and worried after learning of their soon-to-be addition after just a single year underground, but were quickly overcome by joy and excitement.  
Staci had been the one filled with concerns about rations, space, and the child’s future, although he never voiced them.  
For the first time in a long time, there was a taste of happiness and hope in the air, he didn’t want to taint that. 

That delicate happiness died in childbirth, along with the mother. With no proper medical knowledge between the three of them, it was an agonizing, slow death.  
Staci didn’t care to rekindle this memory, it being amongst one of the more painful. He would sometimes hear the father’s wails of despair in his dreams, creeping into his usual blissful nothingness.  
Waking up with tears running down his face had become a semi-regular event.  
Sometimes the child would be woken by his minute twitching and soft whimpering, and he’d open his eyes to feel her dragging the least itchiest blanket over his face and patting his still patchy beard. Those were the better nights. 

Her father insisted on a proper burial, Staci had agreed somewhat, if only for the fact that they couldn’t keep a rotting corpse down there with them.  
They had no idea what it was like outside, if it was even safe for them to be out there yet, but the father went anyway, carrying the body of the woman he loved out of the bunker built to save them.  
That was the last Staci ever saw of him.  
By the third day, he knew that he had either succumbed to the radiation or just simply vanished, not wanting to be reminded daily of the life he had eagerly anticipated for months.  
Staci had wondered if he would see him when he left the bunker, laying peacefully next to his beloved, returning to the earth.  
He saw neither of them the day he finally re-emerged, three years after the disappearance and almost five of being underground. 

Leaving with a three year old wasn’t his ideal plan, but the lack of food and corroded water pipes had forced his hand.  
Covering as much of their bodies in thick clothing was the only thing he could think of to try and possibly shield them from any radiation, since he had no idea what to expect.  
What he didn’t expect was to see tiny shoots of vibrant green grass beginning to scatter the landscape, even a few tiny flowers blossoming on young bushes.  
He was sure it hadn’t been long enough for the radiation to dissipate to this degree, but then again, Hope County had always been an anomaly.  
Maybe Joseph was right, maybe this was the new Eden. 

His eyes flickered open, unaware that he had even fallen asleep in the first place. It was still dark out from what he could see, but he felt marginally better rested than before, so he carefully plied himself out of the child’s dead weight arms. 

Slinging the rifle back over his shoulder, he made his way out of the dilapidated rest stop, moving the bushes back over the doorway to conceal it.  
He moved closer to the now overgrown road, still wary to keep himself mostly hidden, and surveyed the same plains as the night before. In the dark distance he could make out a few heavy dark masses, lazily grazing the irradiated ground.  
They had used up their supply of meat yesterday morning, and after a day of unsuccessful hunting, had gone to bed hungry. 

Although the child was almost five now, living above ground with him for a year and a half, she hardly ever complained about the hunger plaguing her, or the hours upon hours they would have to spend hunting.  
Staci knew next to nothing about hunting, growing up in big city Missoula, but had to learn fast to survive.  
He was teaching her everything that he learnt, knowing that someday she’d have to fend for herself. He hoped that day wasn’t soon. 

He silently watched the bison continue to graze until the sun peeked over the mountains. He shifted his shoulder to feel the comforting weight of their protector and breathed out heavily, mentally preparing himself for the day ahead. 

“A new day dawns… time to survive it.”


	2. Unwelcome Guests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the positive response to the first chapter, it was very encouraging to log on and see that!

Staci grunted in frustration.

Day two was going much as day one had, nothing to show for it but wasted bullets.  
The child ever present at his back responded to his show of irritation with a soft sigh, uncharastically patient for a five-year-old.

Pratt was sure he was going to have to either scavenge for a bow or attempt to make one himself pretty soon. Bullets were now a finite currency and Staci seemed to be spending his like a rich man.  
At least the rifle would still be intimidating to any potential threats, loaded or not, to an average menace it was a case of Schrodinger's gun.

Staci lined up his sights again, aiming directly for the smallest and weakest of the bison herd. With a sharp intake and hold of his breath, he squeezed the trigger, the half second between the bullet leaving the barrel of the rifle and hitting its target seemed to take a lifetime.  
But the shot hit true and Staci let the air rush out of his lungs, watching the herd scatter as the smallest lay bleeding out, making heart-wrenching noises.  
Excitement and pride tingled throughout his body as he grabbed for the child’s hand and made his way through the brush to his long-awaited victory.

They were about a hundred feet away from where the bison lay dying when the loud roar of engines made him scramble to hide them both behind a thick tree stump.  
The child squirmed under his firm grip, willing her to stay in place as he listened to the engines being cut, laughter filling the once noisy air.

“Well would’ya look at this, free fuckin’ dinner, boys!”

Staci didn’t recognize the gravelly voice and shushed the child when she began to whimper, straining his ears to catch their words.

“Looks like he was downed by a bullet, boss.” he heard another voice chime in, this one less gruff than the last.

“No fuckin’ way, shit-for-brains. Y’think I’m fuckin’ blind?”

Silence after that. The hierarchy was obvious, and the lower clearly didn’t want to piss off his higher up.  
Staci held his breath as he listened to the silence, only slightly broken by the faint sound of boots on concrete. They were moving towards the trees where he and the child were barely hidden.

“Come out, come out… you shot that bison down, huh? Must have a pretty nice gun then, am I right…?”

The coarse voice called out, undoubtedly searching for any signs of movement.  
The child must have been able to feel Staci stiffen and hold his breath, as she mirrored him, trying to make herself as still as possible. If she was scared, she didn’t show it.

Staci knew he only had a few moments to make a difficult decision, either show himself and the child and hope that these were nice people (which he highly doubted these days), or book it further into the trees, which also meant further away from their home base.

The footsteps turned from concrete to dry leaves, and Staci knew he had to act now. As much as it pained him to leave the kill they had spent all day searching for, and desperately needed to survive, he knew it was already lost to these men.

“Come on out darlin’, we won't hurt ‘ya, just wanna see what you’re working with!” the voice called out, hardly concealing a chuckle.  
  
He was drawing nearer now, the chance for escape narrowing with every passing second.

Staci gave the girl’s shoulder two light squeezes and she turned her eyes up to meet his, he prayed she understood his pleading gaze. He nodded his head sharply behind himself, motioning the direction he wanted to run in.  
If she did understand, she gave no indication, but time was officially up as the footsteps were no less than thirty feet in front of them.  
Staci said a quick prayer to whatever God was listening, and pulled on the child’s shoulder, signaling her to just move.

Gripping onto her hand in one of his, the other squeezed tightly around the fraying shoulder strap of the rifle, he stumbled his way through the dry brush as quickly as his legs could carry him. He could feel her struggling to keep up, but if it meant he could get her away to safety, he would drag her alongside himself, it wouldn’t matter.  
  
Shouts and heavy footsteps were following them from behind, and Staci could only hope they didn’t care enough to actually put in the effort to find them.

His lungs were burning, the child was desperately trying to keep her footing, and their home base was getting further and further away. But so were their pursuers.  
Their yells and roars of laughter had faded back to what they once were, and growing quieter still.  
  
It was only when they came to a small concrete bridge, fitted through with a large water pipe underneath, did they slow, Staci ushering the girl into the dark pipe.  
They waited there for what seemed like an eternity, her sitting close to Staci and him crouched, ready to take off again at the slightest of sounds.

It must have been a good twenty to thirty minutes before Staci finally relaxed a little, growing more and more confident in their escape with every passing second.  
He was unsure of his next move, they would need to find food again, especially after that intense energy expenditure.  
  
They also needed to return to their gas station, but that would be trickier.  
Staci had no idea if the group would stumble across it as they left, after all, they weren’t too far away from it.  
He had stocked up as much as he could on the basic medical plants and herbs he had read about during his time in the bunker, and then there were both of their clothes, which were surprisingly hard to come by these days.

Hopefully, it would be left untouched, but he would need to spend a few hours scoping the place back out, making sure it was well and truly empty.  
For now, he turned his attention towards the child, curled up and silent by his side.  
She was holding her arm, the one he had kept tightly within his grip as they fled.  
Guilt flooded his chest at the thought of possibly hurting her, especially given the circumstances.  
He gingerly brought his hand to her covered arm, touching his fingers to it gently.

“Does your arm hurt? Did I… Is it from where I held you earlier?” he asked, keeping his voice as soft as he could.  
  
The girl kept her eyes downcast for a moment before barely nodding her head yes.  
Staci bit his lip and furrowed his brow in remorse, he had just wanted to get her to safety but had ended up hurting her in the process.  
He took her small arm in his palm and moved so his face would be more level with hers.  
  
“Can I have a look…?” he asked softly, trying to catch her eyes, so she could see the concerned apology in his.

After a moment of consideration, she moved her own hand off of her arm and allowed him to push her sleeve up, revealing a number of small red fingerprints.  
They weren’t bad, in fact, if they had been on Staci’s own skin he doubted he would have even noticed them, but for a young child, he gathers they must be rather upsetting.

With a dramatic sigh and shake of his head, he furrowed his brow in mock resignation.

“Oh no, this isn’t good… I think the whole arm is going to have to go!” he gasped, lightly tickling his fingers up the outside of her arm and watching her go from no expression to pure shock.

“In fact… we might have to take both of them!” now bringing his other hand up to tickle her left arm.  
  
“You know what, I think we’ll take your head too, for good measure!” he laughed, as he brought his fingers to tickle under her neck, her weakest spot when it came to tickles.  
  
She crumpled her head down into herself to hide her neck, erupting into delighted giggles.  
Staci laughed along with her as quietly as he could, giving her a few good last tickles.  
  
“Bet you forgot your arm was sore, didn’t you?” he asked, rubbing away a tickle-induced tear on her cheek.  
  
She broke into a huge, gap-toothed smile and nodded at him as he re-positioned her sleeve back down.

Staci smiled back at her before pulling her into a tight hug.  
  
“I’m so sorry kiddo… you know I would never ever mean to hurt you. Those men… sometimes you can tell when people are bad inside. We needed to get away from them very quickly.” he explained softly.  
  
“Maybe when we get home, we can practice running faster by playing a game? Tag sounds fun, huh?” She nodded into his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck.  
  
“Then next time we run into bad guys, you can run even faster than me!” She giggled back in agreement, before pulling away from the hug.  
  
“Staci? Can we go home now?” her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
Staci patted her wild hair down, mentally making a note to find another hairbrush, and sighed.  
  
“Soon darlin’, I just got to make sure there are no bad men there first.”

 

* * *

 

They ended up spending the night in the pipe, Staci using old leaves and his warm puffer vest as a makeshift mattress, keeping the child wrapped in his arms for warmth.  
It’s not ideal, but far better than the possibility of running into trouble back at the gas station, especially at night.

He barely slept anymore, too on guard and too many bad memories replaying themselves, so night time became alone-with-his-thoughts time.  
Tonight's worry was about the child’s development. At just about five years old, she hardly spoke and kept her emotions to herself. Staci knew that she fully understood what he said, and when she actually did respond, it was at a good level for someone her age, he just needed to get her to engage more.  
  
She enjoyed games the most, often displaying her true five-year-old nature during playtime. Staci tried to turn as many learning opportunities into games as he could, giving her points on how many signs she managed to read every day, and often playing ‘How Many Mutated Deer Are There?’.  
  
He knew the world she was growing up in would have an effect on her, him mainly worrying about her social development, but there was only so much normalcy he could offer her.  
What she needed was other children to play pretend with, to run around with and learn from.

He rubbed his brows, trying to dissipate the stress headache he felt brewing there.  
  
Pratt was doing his god-honest best. People like him weren’t meant to raise children, growing up a single child and never wanting them before in his life.  
His past of enjoying his free, adult-life to the fullest had been his main priority, not settling down and popping out a few kids.  
  
When the child was first born, he didn’t even know how to get her to feed properly, or change diapers. It had been a steep learning curve, to say the least.  
  
The day he realized her father wasn’t coming back, was the day he vowed to not get attached to her. Of course, he would care for her the best he could, keeping her fed and clothed, but Pratt wasn’t delusional. He knew they wouldn’t be stepping back out into a kind, forgiving Hope County, it would be a dog eat dog world out there and having a very young child with you made you weak.  
  
So he tried to disconnect himself from her, not expecting her to survive to adulthood or even her teenage years, avoiding parental terms in favor of his name and not celebrating milestones such as walking and talking.  
  
He kept himself in denial for the first year of her life, telling himself that he was caring for her because he had to, when in fact he had lost his heart to her the day she was born.  
  
He would die a million gruesome deaths if it meant protecting her, slaughter anyone who attempted to hurt her.  
  
He wasn’t her biological father, but she was his child. God help anyone who tried to tell him otherwise. She even looked similar to him to an extent, her dark hair just as thick as Staci’s, eyes a deep brown to match.

The headache had well and truly formed by now, lingering painfully just behind his eyes. Like most nights, it was going to be a long one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I wanted to slightly explore more of Staci's feelings towards the child in this chapter, as my personal headcanon is that he wouldn't be super comfortable/know what to do with kids lmao

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading!  
> I needed some kind of creative outlet after finishing the game, plus, Staci is my best boy and the complete lack of mention of him in the game (and Jacob for that matter) was soul crushing lmao


End file.
